WASHINGTON—The following is a statement made
by Capt. Lee Moak, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l.,
regarding Congress inability to extend funding for the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA).

The Air Line Pilots
Association, Int’l, is extremely disappointed that partisan politics have
allowed the FAA authorization to expire, and that no agreement could be reached
on an extension.

By allowing this to
happen, Congress has put on hold, or put at risk, a number of significant
projects and programs that were aimed at improving and modernizing this
country’s aviation infrastructure. These improvements—which this country has
needed for so long—are necessary to allow our aviation system to grow, and would
potentially add thousands of jobs to our struggling economy. Not having a fully
functional FAA threatens the growth of our national airspace system, not only
eliminating those additional jobs, but placing thousands of current FAA
employees out of work.

The longer this nation
goes without an FAA extension or reauthorization, the harder it will be to get
those programs back on track.

ALPA strongly urges
Congress to get back on track, and move forward with a multi-year
reauthorization bill to fund the agency appropriately.

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest
pilot union, representing more than 53,000 pilots at 39 airlines in the United
States and Canada. Visit the ALPA website at
www.alpa.org.